\n<\/p>\n
The second lunar lander made by Intuitive Machines has touched down on the Moon, but like the private aerospace company\u2019s first spacecraft, it may not be upright. The Athena vehicle for Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission<\/a> landed yesterday just 100 miles from the lunar south pole, but there\u2019s uncertainty around its orientation which may impact the mission\u2019s duration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t believe we\u2019re in the correct attitude on the surface of the Moon yet again,\u201d Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said during the post-landing news conference<\/a>.\u201cWe\u2019re going to get a picture from the lunar reconnaissance orbital camera from above and we\u2019ll confirm that over the coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Athena lander is charging on the surface according to Altemus and is communicating with the mission ground network team on Earth, but performance is sub-optimal, which may cut Athena\u2019s ten-day lifespan short. \u201cWe have done some power conservation steps as prudent measures to see how long and what objectives we can accomplish in the mission going forward,\u201d said Altemus. \u201cIt will be off-nominal, because we\u2019re not getting everything that we had asked for in terms of power generation, communications.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Once the orientation of the lander is confirmed, the IM-2 team can then establish how many of Athena\u2019s payloads and scientific instruments are fully operational \u2014 including a drill designed to search for ice, and a hopping drone vehicle named Grace that aims to explore a permanently shadowed crater for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n